The Philadelphia 76ers' "process" is continuing to bear fruit as far as the draft is concerned. After winning the No. 1 overall pick last season, the Sixers will be picking third in this year's NBA Draft. However, the man that began the process in Philadelphia is no longer around. Former general manager and president of basketball operations Sam Hinkie is out and his replacement, Bryan Colangelo, seems to have a different mindset.
Colangelo said he is open to trading his pick in the NBA Draft in order to add talent that can help Philadelphia win quickly. However, if he doesn't trade the pick then there's multiple prospects on his radar he may choose.
"Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo hasn't ruled out trading the draft pick. He also revealed the team is considering six or seven players for the pick, assuming the team keeps the selection. And Colangelo added that the Sixers have already had private workouts and interviews with several top prospects at agent-run workouts on the road. He declined to disclose the names of those prospects."
"I think that should we move or if there's a transaction that comes out that gives us a chance to perhaps increase what impact No. 3 can have in terms of its return, I think we will look at it," Colangelo said of a potential trade. "There's some discussions that have been fairly interesting."
Initially the idea of a young team like the Sixers trading a pick that high sounds insane. They need to develop talent and trading away a pick as high as No. 3 defeats the purpose. That said, this is something every GM says every year.
Colangelo and the Sixers are likely just keeping their options open until draft night. They probably are open to trading the pick, but the only reason they would actually trade it is by getting a guaranteed star player in return. It's unlikely anybody with a player of that caliber is going to trade for the No. 3 pick so Colangleo isn't going to trade it.
